Pfizer buys into Brazilian drug maker Teuto

SAO PAULO: US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said Wednesday it has bought 40 percent of Brazilian drug company Teuto for 238 million dollars as part of its strategy to boost its presence in emerging markets.

The purchase could lead to the 100-percent acquisition of Teuto in 2014, it said in a statement.

The 40-percent stake "allows Pfizer to increase its participation in Brazil's pharmaceutical market," the head of Pfizer Brazil, Victor Mezei, said in the statement.

He explained that the deal could result in Teuto producing generic versions of Pfizer medicines, and Pfizer using Teuto products in its output.

Pfizer is the world's second-biggest pharmaceutical company in the world after US rival Johnson & Johnson, according to Fortune magazine.

The maker of Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction and Lipitor to lower cholesterol, it had 2009 revenues of 50 billion dollars and profits of 8.6 billion dollars.

Pfizer Brazil generated 703 billion dollars in revenues last year.